Devil's Dance
by Joriel
Summary: Ten years later, the world has changed, for the worse. Magento is running Genosha, Todd is on Death Row, and Arica has to make a devil's deal to help him.
1. Default Chapter

Soft strains of music broke into the soothing rhythm of rain falling on the roof of Robert J. Parma's home, programmed to begin playing precisely at five am. Robert liked to wake up to music, had spent an exorbitant amount of money on an alarm clock that would allow him to choose what sounds intruded upon his sleep rather than be held victim to an annoying buzzer or random sounds from a radio channel.  
  
With a savage snarl, the attorney tore the clock from the wall and hurled it across the room, taking some small satisfaction in hearing it break apart against the far wall. For the first time that he could ever remember, he desperately didn't want to get up. All of the joy he took in life, even during the bad times, had fled him entirely. Wishing he could deny the soft gray light seeping into his windows as the sun slowly began to awaken in the eastern sky.  
  
He was going to lose an important case today. He'd know that going in, of course. With the clever manipulations of certain highly placed people across the world, despite the best attempts of Charles Xavier to integrate mutants into society peacefully, any mutant who hadn't become literally enslaved to the government and public service was pretty much suffering open season. No one questioned anything people did to them, they all just looked the other way. And when one killed a normal human, it ceased to matter that he was defending himself. Just like the mutant was going to be sentenced to death today. It didn't help that he looked like a mutant, sullen and strange with his green tinged skin, lanky body, too large hands and feet on a slender frame made for leaping.  
  
What he hadn't known going in was how much it was going to change him. How deeply the life of this one mutant was going to affect his own. Hardly more than a boy, really. Twenty-five short years old. Only a little older than Robert's own lost son had been.  
  
It was Jeffrey that had prompted Robert to take the case, pro bona. He knew the kid sitting in jail didn't have any real money, or any real hope of a decent defense from a court appointed lawyer. Jeffrey had been born with the now infamous X-gene as well, and his powers manifested from the stress of his mother being killed by a drunk with a gun. A wave of bitterness rose up in him. They hadn't sentenced him to death for taking a gun out into the street and firing it wildly for kicks while on another in an endless series of alcoholic binges the kind only a career drunk could have. He hadn't even been defending his own life when he took that of Katherine Parma, and indirectly a seventeen year old boy. Because Jeffrey's mutation ate him alive, ravaging his body faster than he could heal, and soon Robert had been burying his only child next to his lost wife.  
  
He saw something of Jeffrey in this other young man. Some strange common trait he really couldn't define, even to himself, but he could feel it. Wanted to protect this boy no one cared about, that no one would miss. Mutation sometimes ruined lives, not improved them. Made them the objects of disgust, hatred, and spite. So he defended him as zealously as he would his own child, trying to make it up to Jeffrey somehow.  
  
Then again, maybe someone would miss him. The much adored MindDancer, member of the X-men and good little mutant who followed the rules, had walked into the courtroom to plead for leniency, practically in tears before the sentencing jury. Robert had thought the picture of her that was in his client's pocket constantly was a symbol of something, what his life could have been, a woman he hero-worshipped, something. It had astonished him that his strange client had actually known the woman.  
  
But as much as the public loved Arica Jenner, they feared more thanks to some well placed propaganda and a few carefully planned paid assassinations. Arica played by the rules, spending her life dedicated to serving the public, keeping the peace, and doing whatever the government told her to do. She played by the rules and in exchange was allowed something of a normal life. It had shocked the hell out of him when she showed up, standing up for a mutant murdered, risking quite a bit of the public goodwill that protected her own life.  
  
Robert finally got up slowly, ready to face the listless look in the deep jade eyes of Todd Tolensky. There was no hope in the prisoner, he'd one day gone so far as asking Robert why they even bothered going through the motions of the trial and the sentencing hearing. Todd knew he was going to die, knew they would find him guilty. Not of the murder, not really. Guilty of being a mutant, guilty of simply being born, and being so vastly different.  
  
As the case progressed, Robert learned a lot about the life of this boy. It was enough to destroy his own faith in the good of humanity. Todd had never had a chance, abandoned at 13 in New York City by parents who didn't even care enough to put him into foster care. Left alone in the Hell that was the New York City streets for two years, stealing what little he could to eat and occasionally get a cheap hotel room to sleep in relative safety. Being found by Magneto and Mystique, only to end up being used by his supposed saviors over and over again, and then abandoned by them again when it suited their purpose. It was a miracle the boy had graduated high school at all.  
  
Todd often remarked the only good thing in his entire life had been Arica Jenner, but he woudln't explain what he meant, or even let Robert contact her. The day she showed up at the sentencing hearing unannounced to plea for mercy on Todd's behalf had been the first real emotion Robert had seen in those green eyes. Eyes that never once left her the entire day, as she sat behind him just looking back at him. He'd still been staring at her as they dragged him away, and for a horrible moment Robert thought she was going to fight to stop it. But she hadn't, she'd just hung her head and broken down the moment they took Todd away.  
  
He knew she would be there today to hear the jury's decision. To rub their faces in guilt with her presence if they chose the death sentence, which they would. He'd seen it in their faces. Todd had snubbed them by wanting to live his own life, not serving them, and they would get their revenge in return.  
  
Sighing, he got up to get dressed for the courtroom. Best to at least go through the motions, he supposed. Be there for Todd until he couldn't be anymore. He wondered what was between Todd and Arica, and mourned with them for the loss of whatever connection they had to the mass hysteria of the public. Individuals may be brave, but the masses were always inherently cowardly. It was a simple fact of human behavior, he reflected as he drove towards the courthouse, having done nothing more than get dressed and pick up his briefcase. He hand't been able to face the thought of breakfast, the paper, or any of his other normal morning routines.  
  
Today wasn't normal. They were sacrificing another life on the alter of fear. 


	2. Chapter Two

Arica lifted her wrist to her face, taking in the small glowing numbers on the watch Logan had given her last Christmas. Good thing Logan had got her the kind you could read in the dark, she mused darkly. Four- fifteen am, almost four hours to go until the final verdict was in at eight o'clock, according to the news. An eternity and not enough time.  
  
The young woman lifted her face to the soft white glow of the streetlight above her, oddly comforted that it's light blocked the stars out of the sky to her eyes. She didn't want to face them up there tonight, shining and glorious, no different than that had for thousands of years, cold and uncaring of what ws going on here. What glory was there going to be for her friend?  
  
She supposed she was cold, sitting here in the chilly November night. Yet there was no sense of it, her body's signals seemed to be lost under the emotional grief somehow. So she just stayed there, sitting on the wide gray marble of the courthouse steps, bleached to the color of bone in the light from the street lamps. One little girl sitting on a bone stair, how appropriate in a dark way. How many corpses had been made in the rooms behind her, how many lives considered beyond redemption and summarily ended for the sake of society? She wasn't sure. She didn't think the death penalty was used very often, but she was sure that it had to be more than a few. Suddenly she wondered how many other people grieved for those lives, how many friends and relatives disagreed that the lives where beyond redemption. So, what was one more?  
  
One more. One more body, pale and lifeless from an injection.  
  
She hugged her knees tighter to her chest, dropping her head and weeping softly. It was only one more body that meant the entire world to her. Until the day of the sentence hearing she hadn't seen him in three years, he'd told her to stop coming around. He was too worried that something like this would happen, and he would drag her down with him. When she ignored him, he'd quietly moved away. She knew it was for her, but it had still hurt like hell.  
  
God, why hadn't she realized how she felt back when it probably mattered? In the seemingly endless days of classes and lunches and afterschool chats. Before the mutant hysteria, when they were just two more kids. Back when things could have turned out differently. But she'd been too wrapped up in her changing powers, trying to control them without killing anyone, trying to deal with living in the real world as a mutant, and doing well in school and in the X-men. Somehow, it had gone unnoticed in her heart, the simple love that kept growing no matter what she did.  
  
She didn't quite know when she fell in love with Todd, who could ever say the exact moment something like that happened? But she could tell you the exact moment it stopped hiding in her heart, that was easy. The day she'd picked up the newspaper to see his face blazed across the front page, and read the article that followed. Mutant murderer, terrorist, criminal.  
  
The world had fallen around her then in the brightly lit kitchen she had spent the past nine years in. Rogue had been the only one that really understood, having been part of the Brotherhood once. Rogue and Arica were probably the only ones who knew anything real about Todd, other than his mutation. To the rest of the people she'd grown up with he was just the Toad, gross and obnoxious, mean and cruel.  
  
Todd had let Arica in, let her as deep into his mind as she'd wanted to go. He'd told her about being abandoned, how he ended up in the Brotherhood, and why he'd turned Xavier down. About being the most hated kid in school, about the loneliness of not having friends, and about the hope that someday life would be different. She supposed if she'd been driven into the house by Storm, only to be insulted and attacked by Kurt, then teleported into the Danger Room and nearly killed, she too would have refused to have anything to do with the place. She often wondered what the hell Xavier was thinking, pulling that stunt. Cerebro told him who was and who wasn't a mutant, she had no idea why he had needed to 'audition' him. She'd never had the nerve to ask, not quite willing to risk the illusions she held about the place she called home.  
  
She and Todd had become friends by accident, being in several classes together despite her being a year older. Having come from another state, she had to take several freshman classes that were sophomore in her old school to be on even keel with her new state's requirements. In exchange she'd already taken several sophomore classes that were taught at freshman level in her previous year, so it wasn't too much of a hassle.  
  
Todd had surprised her one day by quietly putting a bottle of aspirin on her desk on one of her bad days, when the overwhelming pressure of so many minds around her and the effort needed to keep her shields up was rapidly approaching physical torture. She'd been cradling her head on the desk during most of class, determined not to cry in front of a bunch of people she barely knew.  
  
"One of the guys I live with gets headaches from his powers, yo. And since you live at the Institute, pretty easy guess you have powers too. And your face looks like his now, thought you might need some of these."  
  
He'd left her then, and she'd grabbed up the pills as though they were manna from Heaven and headed for the juice machine. They'd helped the pain somewhat, letting her get through the rest of her day. She hadn't been able to talk to him until after school, when she'd returned his bottle and thanked him, and found herself spending the next hour talking to him.  
  
Come to think of it, she'd ended up spending the rest of her life either talking to him or thinking about him from that point on. A simple, random act of kindness from the most unexpected of sources. And he'd listened to anything she talked about, never made fun of her thoughts or dreams.  
  
The tears came a little faster along with the regret, how easy it would have been to let down the barriers and just kiss him. In retrospect, she realized that just one kiss would have been all he needed to know what she was interested, that she wanted more. But at the time her teenage insecurities and fears had held her back, and so had his. So nothing more than friendship ever came of it. She knew he would never make the first move, too many people telling how ugly, how unwanted he was.  
  
She hadn't found him ugly. She'd liked the way he looked, actually. And cursed herself again for never having told him. So they'd been just 'good friends'.  
  
So why in hell did she get to the courthouse five hours early, to sit alone in the cold? Not to mention going to the sentencing open hearing to beg for his life, ignoring the fact that the day before Xavier had just returned from a long tour of speeches condemning mutants who used their powers against normal humans, or to break the laws.  
  
What in hell was she supposed to do though? Just let him die, slip away from her further than she'd already allowed? She just couldn't walk away then. And she would sit here and pray for the next four hours that those people had listened to her, that someone, any of them, had listened. If even one voted against death, it wouldn't happen. He'd get twenty to life, but he'd still be alive. She could still see and talk to him, tell him, work at helping him get out. There would still be hope.  
  
The lawyer had surprised her. She'd heard of him before, he was good, and expensive, yet he stepped forward and took on what was clearly a losing battle for nothing and did the best job she'd ever seen. But not even he could overcome the fear instilled in the public by the slayings a few years back that had been blamed on mutants. Arica knew better, but without proof, it was just one more mutants word.  
  
She also knew, the moment Todd had seen her walk into that courtroom, that he had only been protecting his life. He hadn't gone looking for trouble, it had been dumped on him like so many times before. The fucking man would have killed him, if he hadn't defended himself. He'd projected the memory at her, wanting her to know. She'd slipped into his mind, just trying to be supportive. The three years of absence had fallen away like water, she knew he was grateful that she had come. She was grateful that he cared, that he hadn't been angry.  
  
She'd gone every day after that, just to be close to him. Just to see all the little changes three years had created in him, and to find comfort in the familiar jade eyes and awkward body. She wondered idly what he would say if she told him she liked the slender form with the too big hands. "Damn fool," she sniffled to herself, watching a tired old homeless man looking for something he could salvage or eat along the street.  
  
Wiping her face, she got up and walked over to him, pulling out twenty dollars and giving it to him, remembering that once Todd had been left out on the streets just like. Everyone was human, everyone deserved kindness. "Here, take this. I'm sorry I don't have more," she told him softly.  
  
He stared at her for a long moment, and she idly wondered what he saw in this crazy tear-streaked girl standing on the empty street at four thirty in the morning. Finally he gingerly took the money from her.  
  
"Thank you, lady, thank you," he said quietly. "That boy a friend of yours?" he asked, nodding towards the courthouse she'd come from.  
  
Arica was a little startled, but supposed that everyone knew now. And how hard was it to figure out why a girl as well-dressed as she was had been sitting there waiting at this hour. It was all over the papers flying around in the streets, on the lips of people walking everywhere. Hard not to know.  
  
"Yeah, we went to school together. And I'm stupid," she answered, not really knowing why. The old man sat down on a near bench, inviting her to sit with him. A quick passive scan told her he meant her no harm, and it was better than sitting alone right now. She joined him, feeling suddenly like the sixteen year old that had first gone to the Xavier Institute, looking for any kind of connection to ease the isolation.  
  
"Stupid how?" the old man asked, studying the girl next to him. Homelessness hadn't stolen his humanity, and his heart could still break. And it broke often. The baby girl's body that had been tossed callously into the trash, a small boy beaten bloody by larger boys just for existing, a young woman weeping on the courtroom steps. He hadn't followed the trial going on inside, hadn't needed to follow it to know that the kid inside wouldn't get a fair shake.  
  
"I love him," she answered honestly, softly. "I've been in love with him since I was seventeen probably, but never said. Never let us be anything but friends, too caught up in myself. And a little afraid to let it go there. My friends...the people I lived with..they hated him. And things were hard enough at the time, or so I thought. But now I know I was just stupid. He would have been worth it."  
  
"It's not too late to tell him, girl. And maybe he'll get lucky, and those jury people will remember this is America."  
  
"Maybe," she agreed softly, too tired not to take the fragile hope offered to her.  
  
They sat in silence for a long time after that, watching the sun slowly rise over the city. Her companion rose to leave, gently squeezing her shoulder comfortingly. She smiled at him, wished him well, and returned to the courthouse.  
  
It was almost time to find out, and she had to be there for him. 


	3. Chapter Three

Todd sat quietly in his bunk in the tiny cubic cell, knees hugged tightly to his chest in the darkness. In a few hours he would be told that he was going to die, and the exact time and date that it would take place. He had no illusions that the jury would offer him leniency in the form of a life sentence or anything lesser than death. Mr. Parma had been honest with him from the get go, but Todd had already known before that, deep in his heart. 

Todd had killed a human. It didn't matter that the human had come at him with a knife, that the human wasn't drunk or high and fully aware that he was going to try to kill the mutant. All that mattered was that Todd had kicked him a little too hard, misjudging the amount of force needed to get him safely out of blade range. The man had hit the wall with a sickening, meaty sound and fallen bonelessly to the ground. Todd had called 911 on his cell phone, and done everything he could to save the man. That hadn't mattered either. He'd died, and Todd had done it. Todd was a mutant. There was no way he could pretend otherwise. His skin almost passed, but almost didn't count. Smoother than any humans, with a faintly greenish tinge under the regular flesh tone. His cheeks a little too wide, and the green tongue that he couldn't hide and still speak clearly, not to mention that it could extend fifteen feet long. And the long, powerful legs on an otherwise slender and weak looking frame, ending in feet a little too large for his height. His hands were also a little large, both oversized to absorb the impact of his landings from the leaps, as well as allow him to cling to walls and ceilings via a sticky secretion. Oh yeah, and though they couldn't see it, while he was cataloguing his mutation, he might as well consider the slime he could spit at will.

That was the heart of it, really, being a mutant who couldn't pretend to be anything else. Thanks to a bunch of freelancing lunatic mutants killing a few people three years ago, everyone else was paying. There had been a time when Todd had thought that Xavier had been right, that it would be okay. And things had been going so well, thanks to careful propaganda and media manipulation mutants were accepted, even liked for a while. Until the mutant murders. Which changed America greatly. 

Magneto and most of the Brotherhood Todd had grown up belonging to had taken off for Genosha, making it a haven for mutants only. No X-gene, no entry. Todd had been invited, and wondered if staying behind had been such a great idea. But...he just couldn't leave as long as she was still here. He pulled the worn photograph they let him keep out of his pocket, holding it up to the faint rays of streetlight coming in through the tiny barred windows high in the wall. It was just enough to make out her smiling next to him, one arm around his shoulders with the other flashing a V sign at the camera. His own arm had been around he waist. All he really needed to see, that smile. 

He hadn't wanted to leave her, hurt her by ending their freindship. He'd been in love with her practically since the first day they really met. And it had never mattered to him that she only saw him as a friend, it had been enough. 

She'd been one of those goody geeks living at the Institute, but that one day in class he'd realized that even they had prices to pay sometimes as he watched her struggling to get through their math class. Her face had been paler than Rogue's, with a determined set look masking the pain. He'd seen that expression on Lance during one of his powers-induced headaches, and knew by the way she kept her head down on her arms most of class that she had to be in a lot of pain. So he'd given her the bottle of aspirin he kept around in case of run-ins with Matthews and his fellow jock-bullies. 

After school she'd given it back, thanking him sweetly. He never really knew why, but she'd ended up sitting with him under the old oak just talking. About their mutations, about how they ended up where they were, about what they though the future would be like. 

She'd charmed him. No matter how bad it had been for her, and her life had been nearly as messed up as his, she was still glad to be alive. It rubbed off on him a little, when she was around he _was_ glad to be alive. That was what he'd first fallen in love with, that simple feeling of joy to be breathing. The more he got to know her, the more he'd liked her. She'd even gone so far as to slap Duncan Matthews quite publicly over beating him up once, and made it clear she would personally ruin the life of anyone who messed with him. It hadn't worked completely, but it had greatly reduced the amount of people who picked on him.

He'd often wondered what she would say if he'd asked her out, told her the truth about how he felt, but he never did. One too many times being reminded exactly how ugly he was, how worthless, how unwanted had held him back no matter how close she let him. Now, seven years out of high school, he realized he should have tried. If she thought those things, she wouldn't have been his friend. Or spent nearly all of her free time with him on the porch of the Brotherhood home or the nearby shore, talking and playing and laughing with him. 

Those had been the best moments of his life. Telling her good-bye had been the worst, he'd ripped his own heart out and tossed it on the floor. But he knew something like this would happen someday, and couldn't bear the thought of dragging her down with him. Arica played by the rules, hoping that by proving she could walk the lines they gave her that mutants weren't so bad, that she could change the world.

And people loved her. She was all over the internet, tv, magazines. Xavier held her up to the world as a shining example of who mutants were, carefully keeping the spotlight on the pretty Arica Jenner and away from the stranger mutants like himself or Kurt Wagner. 

He knew what a burden it was on her though, and wondered if Xavier even cared. Sometimes it had seemed to him that he was the only one that had cared about her just for her. She had to be always surrounded by people these days, never allowed a moment to herself anymore. Arica had often spent long hours alone, or just with him by the sea, admitting that having too many minds around her all the time gave her incredible headaches, and it got harder and harder to keep them out of her own. The price for the power of her telepathy. He'd gotten it, understood how bad it could be, taken her to the secluded cove that they'd never seemed to see anyone else in. Those had been good times too, laying in the sand under the afternoon sun just breathing in the salt-tinged air. 

Then she'd shown up at his sentencing hearing, when the judge called for anyone who would speak in his behalf to form a line and speak. She'd gone up right after Mr. Parma, and spoke for three hours in eloquent lines of caring and redemption, pleading for his life. He'd never seen her work so hard for anything, a warmth inside that this was all for him. Right along the anger at her for risking the public's love that kept her safe by defending a convicted murderer. Even if he hadn't exactly murdered anyone in cold blood. 

Todd had never really had a break in his life since the day his mutation started showing up, changing his body and face so that just looking at him was enough to tell people exactly what he was. He hadn't expected one now, either. He'd known the verdict would be guilty, the jury ruled by fear. He knew the sentence would be death, he'd seen the same fear on their faces. The only break he was likely to get was that this state had lethal injection, which supposedly wasn't painful like gas or frying in the chair. 

He would just go to sleep, dream forever. Which wasn't so bad either. He wanted to live, really he did. More than anything he wanted to go back to his small little house, his small car, and his ordinary life that he'd built for himself. But at least the fear of discovery, of the FoH or some other offshoot of organized hate came bursting through his door to maul him. Or worse. 

And maybe he'd been good enough to get to Heaven, right? It was a hope, which was pretty much all he had left. 

Finally the guard came for him, a sympathetic look on the older man's face. Henry Anderson remembered the days when black men like him got the same raw deal, and he felt for the boy, looked out for him. Kept Todd from getting to beat up by the other prisoners, or any of the worse things that happened in here. Gave Todd a book or two to pass the time, and smuggled him in pictures of Arica he printed off his computer, that now lined the wall by the tiny cot. 

Todd smiled a little for him, rising to his feet and accepting the metal handcuffs placidly. If all he had left was a little dignity, he would hold onto it and face this bravely. He got in the transport van willingly, sitting in the middle to watch the sights of the city that he'd been born in pass by on the way to the Courthouse. New York City, where it had all began was where it would end. It was a strange comfort, but he'd take any sort he could get. He followed Henry into the building, through a few hallways, back into the courtroom again. His sunken eyes lighting up in delight as they scanned the spectaters.

She was there! Sitting in the front row, right behind the chair he would sit in. Her eyes were red lined and puffy, and his heart twisted painfully that she was hurting. But other than that she looked good, healthy and whole. And still beautiful. The pretty blond mutant that ruled his heart, trying to look brave. He knew the difference in her face between real emotion and false fronts. She was trying to be brave for him. He smiled at her, she managed to smile back. 

Then they were forcing him in the chair, and going through the formalities. Todd didn't really listen, he just turned around to stare into her dark eyes. i _Can you hear me, Ari?/i_

She nodded almost imperceptibly, crossing her arms on the wooden barrier between them and placing her chin on them, staring up at him. i _I hear you, just like always, /i_she answered him, her mental voice soft and a little pained, tinged with fear. 

i_It's going to be all right, Ari. I know what they're going to say, just like you do. And it's all right, don't grieve, okay? Just remember me?/i_

__Her eyes went even darker, turning from the warm cinnamon to almost black with rage. i_Don't grieve? They are martyring you! The damn bloody cowards are going to sacrifice you to their fear and their bigotry! You...you're the best friend I've ever known, I will never stop grieving for you, and I will never, ever forget even a single moment. /i _

__Todd's eyes widened as he took in the tears welling in her eyes through her anger. In the back of his mind where she couldn't listen now for fear of triggering the mutant detectors with her abilities and risk being accused of influencing the court, he realized he should have told her. Maybe she would have taken a risk and tried to love him. It was a sweet daydream in any case, he mused. 

Arica leaned forward a little more, one hand carefully stretching forward to catch the hand he reached back as far as the wrist restraints would allow him, their fingers tangling. i_I won't leave you alone in this,/i_ she whispered into his mind, flooding him with support and warmth. 

i_Thank you, Arica,/i_ he answered, listening to the date of his death. Just like they'd both known, the jury had given in to fear. He would die in seven days. A keening wail broke from behind him, and he realized it was Arica screaming at the jury. She'd leaped to her feat, still holding on to him, screaming at them in fury and denial. He just sat there, accepting his fate with as much calmness as he could hold on to. He wouldn't let Arica see him fear, he wouldn't add to her pain, he could be afraid later in his cell. And, it was kind of a relief, no more uncertainty. Now that it was out there in the open, he could accept it and let go.

Surprisingly, they had the grace to look ashamed now that the deed was done, in the face of their heroine's anger. "How many bloody times have I risked my life for you?" she was yelling at them. "And all I ever asked in return was some kindness! His life is not irredeemable! I know him! I've known him since I was sixteen! None of you have so much as met him before! What do you know!"

Mr. Parma was trying to calm her, but she kept screaming at them until Todd stood up, facing her and reaching out for her. Then her arms were around him, her face buried in his chest as she just held on, his arms around her as best he could. 

Eternity passed in a single moment for them, then he was being pulled away from them. For one horrifying moment Arica's eyes had narrowed ferally, Todd could literally feel the energy coiling just under his skin through his fingertips. "Ari, no!" he whispered desperately. "Don't throw your life away for me!"

The energy dissipated harmlessly, but her eyes remained fixed on him until they'd pulled him away, and he couldn't for the life of him understand what she was thinking. There was something strange in her eyes. He hoped they let her see him one more time before...before it was over. He had a lot to tell her before he died. 


	4. Chapter Four

Once outside, some of the anger boiling in her calmed as Arica slowly headed for her car. Years of habit of controlling herself took over, forcing her to try to be calm now and think. Hysterics wouldn't change anything, but maybe clear thinking could, she told herself. 

"Are you all right, Ms. Jenner?" a gentle voice was asking to her left, bringing her startled gaze to meet the lawyer's from inside the courtroom. He'd tried to help Todd, tried to save him. It was enough to create an instant liking in the young mutant as she regarded him thoughtfully.

"No, I'm not. They just decided to kill someone I love," she answered him frankly, swaying slightly as the horror of what was happening tried to overwhelm her again. She was suddenly grateful for the steadying hand on her arm. 

"I'm so sorry, Ms. Jenner. I realize this is a terrible time, but I do need to speak with you, when you're able. Mr. Tolensky...he wants you to have everything, and I need to arrange it. He asked me to set it all up for you, and to tell you not be stubborn, and humor him," the man was telling her sympathetically. Then his eyes misted a little, she could feel his honest regret. "I did my best."

"You really did," she agreed with him, still admiring the man who'd fought so hard for Todd. There weren't many who would, a tiny little voice said bitterly in her heart. She certainly hadn't seen Professor X try. Even Wolverine had tried to use his governmental contacts to help her friend for her sake, Xavier had done nothing. Nothing. She wondered if it was really his beliefs that the law should be respected, or if it was just because it was Todd. "There aren't many who would, Mr. Parma. I thank you. It's not our fault we failed. I.. I'll come to speak with you tomorrow, I don't think I can deal with it today. And...I was wondering, if I might ask a favor...can you...can you get me in to see him? I need to see him before..."

The damn tears were falling again, and the man pulled her to the side away from the prying eyes of those around her, hugging her consolingly. "It's all right, child," he told her softly. "Let it out. This is a terrible thing, and no one can fault you for feeling. I'll get you in no matter what I have to do, I'll go work on that now and have the time for you hopefully by tomorrow. Here's my card, I'll be in my office all day tomorrow, come any time you feel up to it."  
"I will, I promise. I don't want to even think about what you want to talk about, but if Todd wants me to see you, I'll see you. But I don't want things, I just want him," she whispered brokenly, turning to go, tucking the little card into her pocket. 

She left him then, a little amused to find people giving her a wide berth the rest of the way to her car, no one knowing quite what to say to her just then. It was probably the first time since she'd started on Xavier's stupid public spotlight program that no one bothered her for autographs or quotes or something. She was grateful for it, and took off towards home. Once alone in the car, she felt slightly petty. The program wasn't stupid, and it had nearly worked to integrate mutants into society by making them media idols. Until the mutant murders a few years ago had created mass hysteria. She laughed darkly, well aware of the truth behind that. 

Without even realizing what she was doing, she took the long way that would take her past the old Brotherhood Boarding House. Without meaning to she was pulling into the neglected dirt driveway that was slowly being choked to death by weeds. She parked by the house, staring up at it for a long time just trying to breath. Memories assaulted her nearly physically for a long time as she worked up the courage to get out of the car.

The driveway brought it's own sadness to her heart as she walked the few feet between her and the porch, staring at it dully. The weeds reminded her of those damned men who'd caused all of this, choking the life out of mutants for fear of losing their strangleholds on power, money, and prestige. They feared the mutants like herself that could expose their corruption and greed, and had acted against them. Assuming that the mutants cared about them, which they hadn't at the time. They'd only cared about being allowed to live normally, for the most part. 

The empty house, still standing despite it's years housing the wild Brotherhood and the following years of neglect from abandonment brought the tears back again, much to her frustration. She wanted to stop crying long enough to think, to figure out where to go next. She climbed the steps to the porch, settling into the corner where she had spent so many hours chatting with Todd, closing her eyes and pretending that he was there. 

A plan was beginning to form in her mind, slowly. Piece by piece, as she realized what she was actually going to do. _'No Ari! Don't throw your life away for me!'_ His voice still echoed in her mind, he'd been right. They would have killed her if she'd given in to her instinct to flatten everyone between him and her. 

But now...now she wasn't exactly throwing her life away. No, this was something else entirely. This was getting the life she'd always wanted. Exhaustion finally claimed her, she hadn't been to sleep since yesterday morning.. Arica drifted off, dreaming sweetly of older days and happier times she hoped were yet to come. 

  


"ARICA!" 

Arica nearly leaped out of her skin, staring wildly around her, torn from her dream of Todd by the sound of her name. Confused by the sun resting low in the western sky, her gaze rose to meet her friend Rogue's, who was standing over her.

"About time!" she said, sitting down next to her, brushing her white bangs to the side. "Ah was beginnin' to think that you were in real trouble. Everyone's worried about ya, but no one thought to look here but me."

A small ghost of a smile crossed the telepath's face as she leaned her head tiredly on her friend's shoulder. "God, Rogue, what do I do?"

Rogue put her arm around her best friend, having no idea really what to say. So she just held her, fairly alarmed that the other girl wasn't crying, just staring tiredly at the setting sun. "You okay, sugah?"

"No. I'm not. I don't know if I ever will get over this," she replied honestly, shoving stray strands of hair out of her dark eyes. "It hurts, Rogue. Why did they do this to him?"

"I don't know, I really don't."

"Rogue, I need to talk to Hank," Arica said suddenly, rising to her feet. She ran her fingers over the banister lightly, opening her mind to the faint echoes of the past. She caught a brief flash of herself, several of Pietro, an idle musing from Lance, random thoughts from Fred, and the soft familiar warmth of Todd's emotions. All faint, all long forgotten small mental snapshots of life preserved in the wood that only she could see, but comforting all the same. 

"Okay, you gonna be okay to drive or you want to ride with me? I can bring Jean out to get your car later."

"I can drive, don't worry. Let's go."

  


"You want to know what?" Hank McCoy asked the young woman standing in his lab, studying her as if she'd suddenly grown a second head and started doing the mambo with it. 

"I want to know where Magneto gets his money," she answered calmly. "I did some looking into it earlier as part of a project, and I realized he's getting a large amount from somewhere in the US. I need to know who his contact is."

"Magneto. And I suppose this has something to do with young Todd Tolensky's unjust fate?"

"Hank, you don't want me to answer that," she told him seriously, her eyes pleading.

Hank took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. It wasn't hard to realize what the young woman was thinking, the difficult part was what to do about it. Morality clashed within him, and the super genius suddenly honestly did know what to do. On the one hand, he had an extensive loyalty towards Charles Xavier and all that this Institute stood for. On the other, what was happening to the boy he had once known, even adversarily, had nothing to do with justice. And if Arica was willing to risk everything she had to put the wrong right, did he really have the right to stand in the way? More importantly, if he hid behind the law blindly to sway his decision, could he live with the stain of the boy's blood on his soul? 

No. It was as simple as that. If Todd had casually murdered the man, just because he could, Hank could happily leave him to his fate and never think on it again. But he had seen the evidence when Arica asked him to look it over to try to help, and he'd known none of it was true. Todd had defended himself, and an accident had killed the man. Todd had even tried to save the life of his attacker. Hank couldn't refuse to help her. 

"I will find out what you need to know, and I will pretend that we never had this talk, Arica. But be certain what you mean to do, if you are going where I believe, once you step onto that path, there is no turning back."

"I know," she replied, softly. She threw her arms around him and hugged her former teacher tightly. "Thank you Hank, thank you. I know I won't be able to turn back, but I have to do this. I have to help him, I just can't...I love him...and I have to..."

"Shh, I understand," he soothed her, rubbing her back softly. "I will get you what you need, you can take it from there." 

"Okay. I need to go lay down now, it's been a hell of a day. And I need to figure out how to move next."

"I imagine you do."

Hank watched her go, wondering if he'd ever see her again after he found her the information. He hated what was happening around him, yet was powerless to stop it. He wondered if maybe, just maybe, Magneto knew what he was doing. Maybe Genosha wasn't a bad thing. He just didn't know anymore, once upon a time life had been black and white. It had been a long time since he'd seen anything other than shades of gray.

"God go with you, both, children. God go with you."


	5. Chapter Five

The sun finally rose on Wednesday morning, ending that horrible Tuesday once and for all. It held lordship over a bright, sunny day. Crystal air clear and almost sparkling the way it only could in the cold of winter fairly danced with the golden rays. The jarring ringing of the phone on the night stand next to her ear startle the sleeping mutant awake, nearly causing her to spill off the side of her bed as she made a grab for it. Righting herself, she mumbled a greeting into the phone, turning a curious eye to the glory of the day outside. It was lost on her.

The only thing that was said was a name and business phone number, which she had the presence of mind to scrawl on the notepad she'd left out last night. She thanked her former teacher, hanging up the phone. There really wasn't anything else to say, what she was going to do had to be done with as little involvement from her friends as possible, for their sakes. She was about to commit the ultimate betrayal after all. Choosing one bitter rival over the one she'd chosen to this point. 

She laid back on her pillow, pulling the blankets more securely around her as she considered the changes in her life now that she'd had plenty of sleep and time to adjust. "God, I'm still going to do this," she groaned to herself, turning her head to look at the picture in the little silver frame next to the phone. It had been taken during her senior year by Rogue, and showed her sitting on the porch steps of the Brotherhood Home, leaning on Todd's shoulder and laughing at something. He was grinning down at her, probably the cause of the laughter, she couldn't quite remember just then what had been so funny in the moment frozen on paper. 

She picked it up, hugging the cool metal to her chest. "I'm going to do this, and whatever happens next, I won't regret. This is really what I want," she said softly, only realizing the simple truth of it all once she admitted it out loud to herself. She put the picture back and pulled herself out of bed, she had a lot to do. 

A quick shower was followed by an uncomfortably silent breakfast with Scott and Jean, both of them constantly watching her. Neither of them really knew what to say, and their discomfort was grating on Arica's internal senses. For her part she merely stared morosely into her oatmeal, carefully projecting a feeling of angry helplessness in case the redhead was trying to scan her. She didn't need to be rescued from herself, and couldn't afford to be locked up on the off chance they decided she'd lost it. Todd couldn't afford for her to make mistakes now. 

It was hard enough, turning her back on everything she knew. She really didn't need any interference, no faltering. Finally her bowl was empty, giving her the excuse she needed to leave the room without looking odd. Having a full stomach on which to do all this wasn't hurting either, she mused with a slight sense of whimsy. _Don't worry Todd, I'm going to fix things. Somehow. _

  


In another part of New York, Jackson L. Connor was also getting ready to leave his house to head for his office near Wall Street. Jack Connor had a talent for increasing sums of money, and utilized it gleefully. He cheerfully admitted that money was his God, and commissions the divine grace of his life. He liked it that way, his life was so much simpler, so much cleaner than so many others. No messy morals, no difficult ethics issues interfering with his performance. 

Of course, there was that _one_ entanglement that tended to be problematic, but the money was amazing. As long as that kept coming, he really didn't care who the man was. Just another client. And he could deal with the swarms of odd people looking for a contact to that client that came to him on the odd occasion. 

Jack really didn't understand what all the fuss about mutants was, especially when they mostly seemed to want to gather on that island in the Caribbean they had taken over. And that one everyone feared, Magneto. Other than the occasional trips to New York to oversee his considerable financial holdings he rarely set foot off that island. The one time Jack had asked him curiously about why he never tried to leave it he'd been met with outright disdain in the man's face and voice for having to step at all into the world of a lesser species, that he was more than content to allow to die out on it's own so long as he was allowed to continue his haven for those mutants seeking it. 

It was that connection that often created havoc in Jack's life, as those mutants sought him out to try to get to Genosha. He amused himself on the subway ride by studying the kids on the train, trying to figure out which of them were budding mutants and which were just normal pre-teens. You never could really tell, he supposed. That could be green punk dye, or it could be natural to the girl. And over there, the really tall kid could be a future basketball player for all anyone really knew. 

All was peaceful in his small stockbroker firm when he arrived, no new messages, no irate clients. An ordinary day, he could concentrate on the complicated weave and flow of the markets. His favorite kind of day, one that happened all too rarely.

The pale November sun pouring into the windows livened his office up, a welcome change from the depressing gray light that had filtered in yesterday through the rain, increasing his good humor with the world.

By noon, the man had accomplished a great deal, enormously pleased with himself. His God was being kind to him today, and showering him with the blessings he so adored as he gleefully researched several new companies and chose which would grow and which would falter. Every now and then the giant shadow of a passing Sentinel fell across him, bringing involuntary shudders. 

_Creepy things, those robots, _he mused to himself. He often considered them a mistake, how long before a grieving or desperate mutant found a way to reprogram them to kill off humans instead? He didn't think much about the mutant 'crisis' in his country, but he did know his history well. You had to have a good grasp on history to really understand the stock market in his opinion, for world event's were intrinsically connected to the flow of money. 

Desperate people cowered for a while, then a breaking point was reached, and they started to fight back. Often violently. It was a theme over and over throughout history, and he didn't understand why no one was considering this possibility. It was one that crossed his mind when his door flew open, shuddering visibly from the impact with the wall. _So much for lunch._

Standing in the open frame was a young blond woman, staring evenly at him as she walked into his office, the door shutting behind her of it's own volition. Maybe walked was the wrong adjective, he amended as he watched her smooth stalking gate. This was the part of his connection he hated, the angry ones. The door was a giveaway, it was heavy and had never opened or closed in the wind the entire four years he had this office. This girl had an agenda, was showing off her powers deliberately, and enough anger burning her dark eyes to make him nervous.

"Sit down and tell me how I can help you, Miss..." he kept his voice soothing, warmly inviting as it trailed off in a query. _Be at ease, I want to help you, be calm. _

__"Jenner," she replied, looking around the office curiously, ignoring the chair he offered her entirely. "And I have a message to reach...Magneto."  
Now here was the complicated part, sorting out those who really wanted to reach his client from those who were sent to bring him to justice for his crimes. Not that he'd really committed all that many to Jack's knowledge, but his mutant haven were making the powers that be of the world nervous. So far Genosha had made no moves on the rest of the world, but the fact that it was steadily filling up with super-powered mutants was a fact not lost on the governments of the world. 

He was pretty sure he'd seen this one before on the television, though he was at something of a disadvantage since he didn't really follow the mutant issues. She was probably registered and playing by the rules though, that Sentinel had been far to close to miss her if she was a rogue. That made her a potential problem to his client.

"I don't really know what you are talking about, Miss Jenner, I think there's been some mistake..."

"Don't lie to me," she interrupted, her voice colder than the frigid November wind in the subway tunnels that morning. "I'm a telepath, Mr. Connor, and I get really angry when people lie to me," she purred at him, but there was no comfort to be had in the softening of her tone as she leaned forward and locked gazes with him. 

Oh yeah, this one was creepy, he allowed. But she wasn't really threatening him, her body language was a little more subtle than that. She wanted him to know that she _could_ be a threat, but was more interested in whatever it was that she wanted. Which meant she had a deep personal stake in this somewhere. Dangerous to mess with people with deep stakes like that.

"All right, let's say I could arrange it. What exactly am I to tell him?" he asked cooperatively, let Magneto deal with her if she was a threat. She was beyond his simple misdirection skills. And angry telepaths who could slam doors that heavy without touching them weren't really people he wanted to fuck with.

"Tell him Ar...no...Tell him MindDancer wants a meeting. But he has to contact today, before four," she told him, sliding a small piece of paper with a phone number written down. "That is my cell phone, he can reach me there to choose a time and place."  
_MindDancer?_ Jack boggled, as he took the phone number from her. He'd heard of her, even though he hadn't been able to place her by sight. She was one of the X-men, mutants who played by the ridiculous laws imposed on him, spending nearly every waking moment in public service. And she wanted to see Magneto? He squelched a spurt of curiosity, whatever her problems her they weren't his, and only a fool would try to change that fact. 

"Understood, Miss Jenner. I trust you have your cell phone one you now?" When she nodded, he smiled and continued soothingly. "Then I will get the message to him promptly."  
"Thank you," she said simply, turning and letting herself out more conventionally than her arrival. He'd been right, it had been a deliberate show. Once he was convinced she'd actually left, he quickly dialed the contact number. "Mr. Lensherr, there is a very determined young woman requesting a meeting, with a contact deadline of four o'clock today. She said to tell you that MindDancer would like to see you." He paused, listening to the startled reply, and read the man the numbers before hanging up. From the sound of his clients voice, she was going to get what she wanted. 

His part in the little drama unfolding around him over, he put the entire matter from his mind and continued his research. 


	6. Chapter Six

The Master of Magnetism clicked his cell phone off, a satisfied grin slowly spreading across his face. Acquisitions such as the potential offering before him pleased him greatly, and his mind was already racing through ideas on how to approach this. 

"MindDancer," he spoke the name out loud, rising to his feet from the small sofa in one fluid motion to step out into the cool afternoon air on the balcony of his hotel room. The sounds and scents of New York City rose up beneath him, and he mused how convenient his timing on this trip had been. 

The girl was young, he believed her to be close to the age of his original Brotherhood members, which placed her somewhere between twenty-five and twenty-eight. It was an odd age to be questioning the belief's of a lifetime, he doubted she had chosen to defect strictly on the basis of her morality or goals. Some outside influence was pushing her, and if he played this well he could have her, mind and soul. 

The timing was too convenient for young Toad's situation to be a coincidence, and he picked up his cell phone and dialed Lance Alver's home on Genosha. A few concise questions revealed that MindDancer had maintained a surprisingly close friendship with Toad during their high school years and beyond. Lance even went so far as to venture that Toad had refused Genosha because MindDancer had chosen to remain in America, but that it was merely his take on the matter. Magneto, however, didn't doubt it. Toad had been abused and neglected all his life, if someone had shown him honest affection and asked little in return, that person could own Toad's soul, just as he hoped to own a part of MindDancer's. 

This could work out very neatly for him, two mutants in one simple act. Not to mention it would show that he wasn't about to allow them to railroad mutants in this manner. 

A cooly amused smile crossed his face then, as he poured himself a small drink and raised it to the sky. "To you, Charles. For allowing your beliefs to finally hand one of your precious telepaths into my service."

He would offer whatever she was looking for, he had a good idea that their paths coincided. MindDancer had come to him, because only he would be willing to give her what he was increasingly sure she wanted. And once she crossed the lines between Xavier and Magneto, he knew others would follow. Mutants in America looked up to her, working so hard to improve their lives and allowing the public to consume hers. Even he'd admired the girl's determination to the common cause he shared with her and Xavier, even if his methods were different. He took a long draught of the sweet wine, opening his laptop to call up all the information his people had entered on her. 

It was always best to enter such talks prepared. An hour's study found him dialing the number she'd given. He was careful to come across as cordial and concerned, telling her he was in the City and surprised to learn she had remained in the City rather than returning to the Institute after her errand. Pleased, however. He set up a meeting, and left the room, still smiling. He'd waited a long time for one like her, not to mention the sheer power and force of will she commanded. 

"Welcome to the fold, Arica."

  


Arriving at the coffee shop first, Arica was relieved to have a few moments to herself to get ready for this. It had been a long time since she'd seen Magneto, six years if she had the dates right in her head. And he'd been less than pleased with her at the time. 

Gathering her determination, she ordered a double hot chocolate. Chocolate was a good thing, she firmly believed. It had gotten her through some strange and painful times, but usually in the comfort of her friends. Well, she was on her own now, and would get through it alone. At least, until she got what she wanted. Then she would have a friend again, she hoped. 

_Please forgive me, it's not throwing my life away. It's not, I promise. You're worth it to me, maybe I can make up my cowardice to you now_, she mused. She was more than a little afraid he wouldn't forgive her this, even though she was doing it all for him. But if that was the price for this, it was still worth it. Todd's life. Now, it was in her hands. 

The concept terrified her. She'd always had older guidance to rely on. Even when making her own decisions, it had been comforting that she could get the benefit of their wisdom to help her choose her paths. Now, abruptly, she'd cut the ties herself. And being completely on her own with such a stake...

Another long, savoring sip of the chocolate along with a determined effort to clear her mind and shove her emotions to the back of her mind helped. She didn't have time to second-guess, couldn't afford to hesitate now. She had no idea what in hell was going on in Genosha, what Magneto wanted and was planning, but she would deal with it. She could do whatever he needed, she knew she was strong enough to adapt. She would survive. 

"Good afternoon, Ms. Jenner," a smooth voice greeted her as the man himself sat down across from her, holding a steaming cup of his own. Her stomach twisted painfully as she took in his impeccable suit, neatly groomed white hair, and cool steel blue-gray eyes. 

"Good afternoon, Mr. Lensherr," she replied, allowing the rote of social courtesies to carry her through the initial fear of realizing she was actually sitting here, across from Magneto, betraying everything she had been taught and worked for during the last ten years. _Good god, he came. I actually called to him, and he answered me. And now he's here, and now I'm about to switch sides. God help me, I think I need it. If you're there, just help me do this. _"Thank you for agreeing to see me."  
He smiled warmly at her then, studying the nervous expression in her eyes so at odds with her confident body posture. Yes, Charles had done well training this one. An excellent acquisition for his island nation. "Of course, I could hardly turn away one of my own kind," he told her, careful to keep his voice gentle, welcoming. The fact that there was no hint of sensation in his mind encouraged him, she really was looking for something and not acting on Xavier's orders. "And call me Eric, I know we've been on different teams, but we are ultimately all on the same side."

She smiled a little then, as if the mere idea reached something in her she hadn't been aware of before. "I...I need your help, Eric," she said falteringly then, her voice soft under the babble of the other customers around them. 

"I thought you might," he replied casually. "Might I inquire what situation has brought you to such desperate measures as to seek me out?"  
She laughed a little then, feeling slightly embarrassed as he grinned at her. There was something wicked in that grin to her eyes, but it was playful. She was careful to keep her mind in her own head, but his amusement flooded her senses anyway. It relaxed her, she couldn't feel any malice here. She didn't doubt he was good enough to hide it if he really wanted, but it seemed silly that he would go to such lengths at this point.

"It's Todd Tolensky," she finally told him. "I need your help saving his life."

Magneto leaned back into the soft cushions of the coffeehouse sofa, studying her closely. She actually meant it, she was actually going to throw it all away for Toad. "Ah, yes, young Toad," he mused aloud, watching the play of pain and hope cross her face. "Why now? Why him?"  
Her gaze dropped into her lap. _How do I answer this? _she wondered, trying to find the right path. Finally she settled on truth, things were too delicate here to play stupid games. She leaned forward, keeping her voice low and soft so only he would hear the words. "I love him. And I want him to live a long, healthy life. I have a meeting being set up with him, I find out the time and date today at four. You can make those flying orb things. I thought...you could tag me, or be close and I could guide you to where we are, and we could go to Genosha." 

He settled back, considering this. Why tell her he'd been halfway considering rescuing the ungrateful boy anyway, when she was delivering herself so neatly into his hands like this. And the emotional tie was convenient as well, if Toad shared it, or could be encouraged to share it. He encouraged mutants pairing up, and producing mutant offspring. Sometimes they produced normal humans, but always with the latent X-gene required to create more mutants. So he allowed those normal humans born of his mutants to remain, and they would be encouraged to grow up and marry into his mutant society. Yes, another mated pair would be excellent for his future plans. 

"I will help you," he agreed, taking in the sheer relief flooding her eyes. He handed her what looked like an ordinary library card, but was actually a tag marker for himself. "This is all you need, when you are ready, push the logo and it will signal me."  
"What do you want in exchange?" she asked evenly, dark eyes meeting his without any flinching. 

"I want you as a citizen of Genosha, a role model for them as you were here. But I will not be so intrusive on your life with media demands, I will keep it discreet. And if you chose to turn your considerable talents to helping defend our home, I would be greatly pleased. The only other job I would require in exchange, is you accompany me to political summits and meetings, to ensure the honesty of offers being made and the intent of keeping them or betrayal behind those making them. That is hardly a morality breaking choice, now is it?" he asked her gently, smiling openly at her. 

"No..." Arica answered slowly, digesting what he was saying. She realized she was being neatly handled, but wasn't in a position to object. Not to mention objecting at this point would be childish, he really wasn't asking her to do anything truly horrible or repugnant. Whether or not her future remained so simple, at this point it was entirely reasonable. That worried her a little, but she knew he was right. She'd come to him, sold herself in exchange for Todd, and really wasn't afraid.

She knew somewhere in the back of her mind she should be, this should terrify her. Instead, she felt oddly free, suddenly relieved by the realization she was going to Genosha. An entire nation of nothing but mutants, from all she'd heard. A nation where she could be herself, the only real rules cause no harm to other citizens. No more ugly black-ops missions by those responsible for the mutant crisis, no more endless streams of people touching her until the point she wanted to die from the pain of keeping their minds out of hers, no more trying ot pretend she wasn't different in a lot of ways. 

Freedom. She got Todd, and she got freedom. And may her former teammates and friends forgive her, but she wanted it. She shook Magneto's hand then, writing down the cell phone number he gave her to use to tell him of the time and date once she got them from Mr. Parma, and making notes on the final instructions from him regarding any of her and Todd's material things she wanted to take to Genosha. 

Magneto left her to finish off her hot chocolate and think alone before she returned home, getting her tightest shielding around her intentions so as not to leak them to Jean or Charles. She was so close now, she was not going to blow this. 

It was late when she finally got back to the mansion, almost stunned to realize that she only had two more nights to sleep in her familiar bed. She would see Todd the day after tomorrow, and the sheer amount of things she had to do between then and now was overwhelming. Move anything she wanted to keep to Todd's home tomorrow, where some members of Magneto's organization would pack everything up and ship it to their new home. Write letters to leave those here she wanted to say good-bye too, and mail them so they would arrive after she was safely gone. Pray they didn't find out in time to interfere, she didn't want to fight any of the people she loved and worked with. Absorb the facts of what she had done. 

Get over the fear of leaving her entire life behind, of the regret that she would probably never see most of these people on friendly terms again. Figure out how to explain herself to Todd during a long ride in a little metal ball.

  



	7. Chapter Seven

Henry Anderson smiled tentatively at the man inside the death row cell, still a little stunned at how young he looked. He knew from all the media flurry over the entire thing that Tolensky was twenty-five years old, but he looked all of nineteen, maybe younger. Henry'd looked into the eyes of a lot of murderers over the years, and these soft gold-green eyes weren't just another pair. There was a strange sort of jaded innocence in place of the cold emptiness. 

  


Todd's head rose up in surprise, jolted out his private thoughts by the arrival the guard that could almost be called a friend. The large black man settled in a chair just on the other side of the bars, ignoring the jibes from the other cells occupants. "What are you doing here?" Todd asked him, surprised. Henry hated duty in the particular wing of the jail.

  


"Traded shifts with MacKenzie," the man grunted back at him, voice and eyes kind. "Thought you could use a little company right now."

  


"Yeah, I guess I could at that," Todd answered softly. "I don't really want to be alone. I'm gonna die in just a few days. And it will all be over, my whole sorry life. Just...done. I never even got the chance..."

  


"The chance to what?"  
  


"To really enjoy it all. There was a time when I was almost happy, and a girl even. Maybe, I dunno. I never had the guts to try for her as anything more than a friend, ya know? But she was a great friend, and life was okay. Sometimes I wonder where I would be if I hadn't freaked, and joined the X-freaks."

  


"You almost joined them?" Henry asked, surprised. Todd spoke so bitterly of most of them on the few occasions they'd had to talk. 

  


"Yeah, but it was too weird. First that Storm witch attacks me with lightning, then the blue furry freak chases me all around, and finally we end up in this crazy room that's literally tryin' ta kill us. I ran like hell, man. It was nuts there! Wasn't for another year or so til I saw it again with Arica that I realized it wasn't always that bad, but by then I thought it was too late. To much between me and a room there, ya know?"  
  


Henry nodded. Like Todd, he knew all about lost chances and choices that were really not choices at all. Just one real door, with a door that led into a wall next to it to tease you. After a lifetime of injustice, Henry found it impossibly strange to suddenly be on the side of the majority. Human. After the appearance of mutants, the lines of race and sexuality had pretty much fallen to the side, unimportant to the masses in the hysteria over what potentially could be an entirely new species among them. Henry often didn't know what to make of it. 

  


Todd was musing along the same lines, and he just didn't get it either. They hadn't even done anything to the humans yet, and there had been all this panic. Todd supposed that eventually Magneto would have done something stupid, or Sabretooth, or someone. But before anyone had a chance to do anything aggressive, the humans had. Todd wondered sometimes if they hadn't, maybe things would have been okay. 

  


He'd had the chance to go to Genosha, just like anyone else with the X-gene. Sometimes he though he should have just given up and gone. But most days he liked his quiet life. He spent his days going to work at the landscaping firm. He'd found he enjoyed the work, from shaping formless brown dirt into a haven of plant life to raising the most delicate flowers in the hothouse. He also did some freelance art work, selling it to various magazines and web sites under an assumed name. The two jobs had been enough to get him his house, a car, and a decent sized savings account. Arica would get it all, and he idly wondered if she would live in his house. 

  


After work he played on the internet, drew some, or just spent time working on his backyard. He'd carefully built up fences of hedges, trees and vines to create a secluded haven around a small Todd-made pond. Large, colorful koi swam gracefully in the waters, occasionally surfacing to accept the food he tossed to them. It was also deep enough to swim in. He loved swimming, and knew that Arica did too. Flowers of all colors of the rainbow flourished around the yard, creating a thing of beauty that was eternally ready if he ever found the guts to bring her there to see his work. The air always smelled sweet, lily of the valley blooming everywhere to remind him of the scent she'd loved to wear. 

  


He wondered now what she would think of the place, and it saddened him to know that he would never know what she thought of it. His life was over. It kept coming back to that, no matter where his train of thought took him. Over. 

  


"I would have run too," Henry said, drawing him out of the endless cycle of morbid thought and regret. 

  


"Yeah. I almost joined up later again, but didn't quite have the guts. It was easy in the Brotherhood, so long as you showed up for battles that Mystique or Magneto ordered they left you alone. Didn't expect nothin' out of ya, didn't care about your grades, no rules, just left ya. I didn't want to know I couldn't cut it in the X-men's world, ya know?"  
  


Henry nodded softly, his heart aching for this poor lost kid. "Easy way to live, huh?"  
  


"Yeah. Easy and harder than anything. I knew even then I was only screwing myself," Todd answered softly. "It wasn't even that I was afraid that she would see me screw it all up, I was just afraid that I would lose the last bit of faith in myself. Of hope that I _could_ be something more, even if I chose not to be."

  


Henry just nodded, and the two lapsed into companionable silence. 

  


  


  


  


Arica let herself into the pretty little house, amazed at how charming Todd's home was. It was a small victorian, overflowing with flowering vines of some kind she couldn't think of a name for. And it smelled really good here, like her childhood. Entering the cool darkness of the house took all the strength she had, the emptiness of the house pressing down on her painfully. 

  


The living room she found herself in was nicely decorated, large paintings covering the walls. It was a little disconcerting to see herself in three of them, but Todd had always liked to paint. _He spent hours on those, painting you. See all the work that went into those, all the care? As if every tiny brushstroke meant something to him..._

  


Arica sighed softly, wishing she could live in this wonderful little house someday, and knowing it was never going to happen. Thankfully all the paintings seemed 

to be on canvasses, and wouldn't be left behind. The furniture was surprisingly nice, considering Todd had never spent more than two seconds thinking about things like that before. She wandered from room to room, taking in the little things that identified the house's sole occupant, touching them to draw out small flashes of his emotions. 

  


"God, how pathetic do I look now? I'm acting as if he's actually going to die!" she told herself angrily, glaring at her reflection in the mirror hanging on the hallway wall. It's presence confused her somewhat, Todd hated mirrors. She knew that. No matter how cute she found his appearance, he was convinced he was the ugliest thing to walk the earth. 

  


After a quick tour of the home, she let herself through the patio doors into the backyard, and stopped in wonder. Protected from prying eyes on all sides by a ring of vegetation, it was a small haven of fantasy to her wondering eyes. The sweet scents of honeysuckle and lily of the valley washed over her, bringing back endless hours of sitting idly on his porch talking to him wearing her favorite perfume based on the tiny lillies, and more summer afternoons hunting down honeysuckle to lap at the sweet nectar. He'd confessed he'd never tasted it before, and it took her a long time to convince him to try it. She smiled as she remembered the blissful expression cross his face for one unguarded moment when he'd finally let her run the delicate flower stamen across his green tongue.

She'd wondered if he would get that look from looking at her naked body. She wondered if she would ever find out, and sat down on a cushioned patio chair. That's when it hit her, the mirrors, the flowers, the fish in the pond. All the little details she'd told him she wanted when she found a home of her own. The utensils of a gourmet chef in the kitchen of a man who hated to do more than microwave to cook. The large, empty walk-in closet in the bedroom. The silk bed dressings of a boy who'd once laughed at her for spending so much money when plain old cotton worked. 

  


This house was designed for her to live in. 

  


The shy, wonderful boy she'd been friends with felt the same. He'd never forgotten a single thing she'd talked about, no matter how silly or trivial, even when he'd made fun of her sometimes over them. He'd come here and quietly made what he thought was her idea of paradise for her, never once asking her for anything. Probably hoping for the day that the mutant hysteria subsided and merely knowing her wasn't risking her life anymore. Instead, he'd just made this place for her, and made sure that it landed in her hands when he thought he was going to die. 

  


She put her head in her hands and wept. Tears of regret, tears of relief, tears of hope. It all intermingled in her, and she let all the pain and anger. Was this what had made Magneto? Had she stepped on his path? The sense of betrayal by the masses around her was strong. No matter how she tried, she just couldn't quite let it go. After all she endured for them, they were going to kill the only thing she ever loved? 

  


A young man who would create something like this without ever even asking for something as small as a kiss in return? Maybe she could get that man who took care of Magneto's finances to shift ownership of this house to Rogue. Give her and others a place to go without the media in their faces, a small place to hide from the world for a little while. Todd was sentenced to death in this country, he wouldn't be coming back. And she was pretty sure breaking him out of death row meant she was never coming back either. It would be a shame to let this wonderful little place go to waste. 

  


The shadows lengthened over her as she curled up in the chair, basking in the flashes of emotions of the man who had created all of this for her. If she'd had any doubts when Hank asked, when she had lied outright to Logan and Xavier, or forced Kitty in agreeing to cover for her as long as she could, they faded right there. She knew she was doing the right thing for her heart. And heaven help Magneto if he failed her. 


	8. Chapter Eight

For the first time in several days, Arica stretched luxuriously as she woke up. Content and hopeful again, she snuggled deeper into the welcoming softness of the silk sheets and the warm comforter above them. Idly she wondered what Todd thought of sleeping on the whispering fabric. 

A soft smile curving her face, she debated the merits of actually getting up and out of the bed. She liked it there, wrapped in one of Todd's T-shirts she'd found laying on the floor next to it. It had smelled faintly like lakewater before a rain, the scent of Todd's skin, so she'd stripped her own clothes and put it on. She'd had a brief morality issue with making herself so at home, but knew that Todd wouldn't mind. Hell, he'd even made it clear that he intended for her to have all this stuff anyway.

So she'd curled up in his bed and spent the night dreaming about him, about being free and at his side in Genosha. And now she was praying that life would be at least a little like her dreams. Making deals with Magneto was never the world's brightest idea, but she'd made her bed, so to speak. With green silk sheets, her favorite color no less. 

One last stretch and she would get up, she promised herself. Her hand brushed idly along the vine carvings of the headboard as she indulged herself. One leaf shifted slightly, so slightly she nearly missed it but for the soft scraping sound of wood on wood. 

"What?" 

Curious, she sat up, wincing slightly as the morning chill hit her. The electricity of this place had been off for a long time while he was in jail, but she'd figured she'd be warm enough with all the blankets and the kerosene heater she found in the garage. Mornings always felt cold to her, even in the middle of July. And she figured the heater was doing it's job pretty well, she wasn't completely frozen. It was only a minute's work to find the moving leaf, and realize that there was a small hideaway in the wood. And a small box tucked inside. 

She pulled the box out, staring at it. Was it for her? Was it something Todd had stuck in there, or was the bed antique, and it something he didn't even know was there? She debated with herself, the training ingrained in her at the Xavier institute to respect other's privacy warring with the curiosity propelling her hands to open the little box. 

Curiosity won, and the box slid open in her hands, then fell into her lap when they dropped it to fly to her mouth. "Oh my god!"

Winking up at her was one of the sparkliest diamonds she'd ever seen, beautifully encased in the delicately twining white gold filigree wrought to look like her favorite flower, lily of the valley. The diamond had an unusual cutting, it had to be some kind of custom order, with more tiny facets than she could count. More facets, more sparkle. Just the way she liked things. 

"Oh my god, Todd! Why didn't you ever tell me? Forget that, I know why. Why in hell didn't I ever tell you?" she whispered in the silent house, lifting the small box to her heart and holding it there for a long moment. Finally, she put the lid back on, tucking it safely away in it's hidden spot. She wouldn't tell him she found it, Magneto had said that he would have everything in the house moved to their new one, she would let him give it to her later if he still wanted to. 

Curling her legs under her, she turned her gaze to the backyard, and the flowers still in bloom somehow this late in the year. She had no idea how he'd pulled that off, but wasn't going to question the fantasy today. All her doubts about her current course of action fell away in the glittery lights thrown off a diamond hidden away in a bed, a diamond he had no way of truly knowing if he'd ever really need. Just like the sheets, and the cookware, and the small feminine touches in the bathroom. 

Todd had lived in hope, so could Arica. He would forgive her, and they would find a way to live happily ever after, no matter what she had to do. Even if it meant dealing with Magneto forever. 

Springing out of bed, she pulled her pants on over the ends of the T-shirt, tossing the shirt she'd worn yesterday onto the bed. It wasn't as if anyone would really notice the change, she mused, closing the bedroom door behind her. One last walk through her fantasy made reality, she locked everything back up the way she'd found it and got in her car. It was a long ride back to the Institute, and she had a few more things to do before tomorrow. 

  


Logan watched through the window in Xavier's study as Arica drove up the long drive to the mansion, his face tight with concern. "She's taking all of this a little too well, Chuck," he muttered, wondering what was going on in their gold team telepaths head. 

"She'll be fine," Charles' replied, his voice clearly distracted. "She'll mourn the loss of her friend, certainly. We all do, what happened to Todd Tolensky was unfortunate. However, she's hardly going to throw away a lifetime's work for a childhood acquaintance."

Logan frowned slightly, not as sure as the founder of the Institute. He suddenly doubted Charles even knew how much time she'd spent at the Brotherhood home, back then things had been more relaxed. Leaving the mansion hadn't meant risking being lynched, and the kids didn't have to register every move they made as long as they carried their beepers and made it home by curfew. 

"I don't think she is going to be all right, they were pretty close," he argued.

"And she hasn't seen him in what, three years? These things fade, Logan. We have a larger problem, Magneto is in the country."  
Logan sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to get anywhere with infamous mutant's presence. He wondered if that was connected to the Tolensky kid too. 

  


Arica carefully rearranged her room to cover up the missing things she'd moved to Todd's. To her eyes the room looked empty, forlorn. But to most of the others, it would merely look like she'd redecorated, again. Something she was prone to do ever since realizing this room was probably going to be her home for life, considering the state of world these days. 

But it wasn't going to be now, was it? 

"Arica?" the soft voice nearly startled her out of her wits. She looked up to see Kitty phasing through the wall, a worried expression on her normally optimistic face. "I um...came to see how I could...pay the bet. I lost, and I mean to live up to it."

Arica sat up, mildly surprised. Kitty had put her faith in the justice system, and when Arica had insisted that it was misplaced, they'd made a bet. If Kitty was right, Arica owed her an apology and would do her chores around here for a month. She would have been glad to do double duty around here for a month to be wrong. For a year, even a decade.

But she'd been right, and Kitty had promised to help her if things went bad. Kitty had known that Arica wouldn't just let it go, and she'd promised anyway. Arica threw her arms around her old friend and just hugged her. "What I need you to do is simple," she told her. "I packed up a bunch of my camping gear, like I'm going for a weekend of aloneness. Tomorrow, I leave. When people start asking, tell him I was so angry over it all, and not being allowed to see Todd again, that after my visit with him I'm going to Florida for a bit to camp out, get away from it, deal with things. That I can't watch him die."

Kitty stared at Arica for a long time, knowing what leaving meant. Arica wasn't coming back, she would be gone. Like Tabby, like Lance. Like so many mutants she'd known in high school. How she wished for the days of the Bayville Sirens when all the girls were out there having fun, saving the town, and together. Or the shy, sweet dates she'd had with Lance, trying to figure out if he really liked her, or if he was just trying to get to the X-men through her. And the day she realized it was all about her. 

She missed him. It was as simple as that. She'd been glad that Todd had stayed behind when the mutants started their exodus for Genosha for Arica's sake. She understood why Lance had gone, he couldn't stay. He didn't have the X-men connection to protect him, his powers to destructive to realistically sign on to serve America anyway. She hoped he was happy, she hoped Arica would be happy. And Todd, and just everyone. God, why did it have to hurt so much?

"I can do that," she answered, the tears starting to fall out of her blue eyes. "Can I ask you a favor? Can you tell Lance...if you run into him...just tell him that I never forgot him, not even for a minute, okay?"

Arica nodded, and the two girls wrapped around each other, holding on as if it would change fate itself if they never let go. Knowing in their hearts it wouldn't, that tomorrow would come, and that it didn't care about what they thought. "I'll tell him," Arica promised. She had a fleeting wish that they were all going, that humanity would let them all go and forget about them, letting them live their own lives. Not ripping apart friends and family.

That right there was the realization that dispelled that private hope. Moving all the mutants to Genosha would still rip apart families and friends. How many families desperately tried to shield their mutant children from detection and a life of servitude? How many runaways found homes hiding out with friends and lovers across the country? There was no real answer to any of this, she knew, other than hoping that people overcame their need to fear, to hate. 

And right then, she felt like she would be better off wishing for the moon to fall out of the sky and into her hands. Or to be able to turn back time, and stop the mutant murders. And tell Todd she loved him while she was at it. 

Why couldn't there just be peace?


	9. Chapter Nine

Magneto sat on the penthouse balcony of his hotel, drinking in the glorious sights of New York at night, when it was truly in its glory. Darkness cleverly hid the dirt, the cracks in ancient stones, the broken glass, burned out shells of forgotten buildings, the grime of long years and hard life that covered the City. Glittering lights in random patterns shone in the velvet shadows cloaking the city from windows and streetlights in all direction. Like a spill of diamonds on dark cloth. The patterns shifted slowly, continuously, as the inhabitants of the City went about their lives. But it never winked out entirely, there were always lights shining in the darkness here.

It reminded him of the people he was protecting. Swallowed up in the darkness of humanity's hatred and fear, but never completely. Always shining through, small pinpricks of light that refused to be put out entirely. Mutants among humanity, shining in their various ways. 

What a glorious week it had been, he mused to himself. Genosha had finally reached a state of independence from other nations, its mutant inhabitants having learned how to work the factories and farms that the humans had left behind when they abandoned it to him. After going over the financial status and trade agreements with his advisors, he'd learned that the country was even pulling a profit, selling more than it bought. His people were clever and industrious, most of them working hard because they were allowed to shine here. Allowed to show off their talents and strengths, welcomed instead of having to hide, be anonymous in the crowd, drawing little or no attention to themselves for fear of the Friends of Humanity organized hate group or the Sentinels sanctioned by their very governments to kill them simply for having been born. In safety, they worked hard to repay their new home. Their loyalty ran deep for even the smallest things Genosha could offer. 

Then there was the latest census report, which had revealed that the population had nearly doubled in the last year, as more and more mutants fled to his haven. Quite a few of them were from America, the famed 'melting pot' of the world. So much for melting. Apparently homo sapiens and homo superior were like oil and water. Completely immiscible, although if you shook the two together it was hard to tell them apart for a short time. However, it was inevitable that once the liquids settled down, they would once again separate into two distinct substances, losing any semblance of uniformity. So much like man and mutant. 

And finally, the last thing he truly needed, a powerful young telepath. Her telekinetics were a bonus, but it was primarily the telepathic talents of the young woman he was concerned with. As well as repositioning her on the mutant chessboard of life to be his Queen, rather than Charles'. Removing the danger, increasing his forces and position. Not to mention the sheerly personal satisfaction of stealing one of Xavier's favored protégés right under his nose. 

"Welcome, indeed, MindDancer," he mused aloud. He would keep his word to the girl, using her in contract and political negotiations. He was confident that the plots and plans of those who would move against them would be all he needed to gently propel her into a more proactive stance regarding her new allies, and a desire to protect her home. He didn't need to push her, time and fate would neatly do that for him. Arica Jenner was clever, a bright young woman who looked at life a lot more realistically than her former chosen mentor. It grieved him that it took such an event to outline the hard truths to the girl, but he trusted in fate to know what she was doing. Lady Fate had certainly brought the girl around far more effectively than any of his prior attempts.

Tomorrow, Toad and MindDancer would be joining his dream. For bringing MindDancer to the fold, all was forgiven for Toad over having refused to go to Genosha before. Having overseen the packing of their things at the small house young Toad had owned personally he was certain that Tolensky did indeed share the emotional bond he'd witnessed in Arica during their talk. It bemused him a bit that of all the teens he'd had at the time, including Avalanche and his own son Quicksilver, it had been Toad that attracted the girl. It mattered little to him in the end though, they would breed glorious children that would grow free and proud of what they were, and one day, reclaim the world that was denied them. 

Magneto had never considered himself a stupid man, and prided himself in learning from his own past mistakes and those of others. After long study of history and his own attempts to bring his dreams to fruition, he'd realized his error was not in the goal itself, but in the timetable. There were simply too few mutants to stand up to humanity at this point. They were truly the future, but the future would come only in it's own time, and it had been arrogant of Eric to try to force it to suit his own desires. 

But in the generations to come, with mutants being born both in Genosha and out, they would rise up and take their rightful place. The trick would be to protect the fledgeling new species until it grew strong and proud, able to stand freely and say this world is ours! Eric was content in accepting that it would not be in his generation, but perhaps in his children's. Or their children's. Not much longer than that, he was pretty sure. He was watching the world statistics closely, and less and less families could claim to be mutant free. 

And with Arica on Genosha, he need fear no fools any longer. With the updated Cerebro unit he was building for her, so similar to the one that he helped Charles' design a lifetime ago, she would protect their home. It would boost her natural power enough to take over the minds of an entire army if they chose to send one, or reach the mind of a man controlling the Sentinels if they chose that route. His people would be safe. And woe to the man or woman who got in the way of that goal. Perhaps, as time went by, Arica could be persuaded to start using her abilities in new directions. Erasing the hatred that mankind found so necessary, reprogramming them. Right now she was too ingrained in Charles' 'freedom of choice' philosophy. But the potential was there. He wondered if it would keep Charles awake at night, waiting for the day that Eric 'corrupted' one of his own fully. 

Corruption indeed. Ensuring the survival of herself and those she loved, and her people without the need to shed the blood of the enemy could hardly be considered corruption. There were bloodier ways to accomplish his desires, after all. Eric felt he was showing excellent restraint in letting them stay in the back of his mind for now. After all, did mankind really understand anything else? 

Would Arica one day be here, looking down over these lights and remembering the day she'd run to him for help? Looking down with gratitude in her heart for him, fond memories of the man she'd once fought with all her strength, that had been the only one willing to save a life unjustly sentenced to end? Would her children play in Central Park after a day in the Museum, perhaps with his own grandchildren as Wanda or Pietro's possible wife and Arica sat chatting on a bench? Watching over their children with the practiced eyes of a mother alert for potential falls, fights, and other childhood mishaps, rather than carefully watching the surroundings for brutish Friend's Of Humanity supporters who would kill them all. Or perhaps Todd and Pietro would be there, reliving their days in that simple boarding house of high school, marveling at how the world had changed as they watched their strong, healthy children taking on the jungle gyms. 

Such pleasant daydreams, he mused, turning to go back into the warm room behind him and away from the chilling winds that blew across the City at this height. He wondered if she was even now saying her good-byes, spending her last moments with those she had come of age with. Those who had taught her along the path, trained her powers and fighting skill and morality. To those she helped train up behind her, the students at the school. What magnificent courage, to turn her back on everything she knew for the sake of one life. 

Such a shame he was so old, she so firmly attached to Toad. She would have made a wondrous mother to his children. Unlike the pale, fragile creature who had born him twins, only to die a few years later leaving them motherless in an unkind world. He counted himself lucky that they had proven to be mutant children, rather than human like their mother, weak and useless.

Such a shame he'd had to kill her, a few more heirs would have been welcome. But she had been growing dangerously unstable ever since the day she learned of his mutation, fearful of her own husband and later the children of her own body. Terrified it was all some sort of holy punishment for some great sin in her past. He wasn't about to allow any risk to his heirs, so while she slept one night he'd simply stopped the blood to her brain, effectively suffocating it. 

She'd died so quietly, almost peacefully. It had been easy enough to tell the tiny children the next morning that life had just worn her away, grinding her down until there was nothing left. That she'd been weak, and that is why he wanted them to be strong, so that they would grind away at life instead. They never suspected a thing. He wondered often if Wanda in her later years happened on the thought in her hatred of him, but she'd never given any indication of it. It was if she'd simply forgotten she'd ever had a mother, and he had let the matter stay buried. Pietro asked him to share memories of his mother once in a great while, but like Wanda mostly seem to have forgotten. Asking more out of a need for a sense of belonging, of coming from somewhere than any real emotional need.

If Carlotta Maximoff had been more like Arica, there wouldn't have been any such need. His children would have grown strong and proud from her example. He never would have needed to fear harm to them by her hand. Perhaps their gifts would have been stronger as well. 

Wanda's was incredibly powerful, but equally incredibly dangerous. The anger that burned somewhere in her very soul distracted and unfocused her. Even now, grudgingly living at a strange kind of peace with him in the same country it was there in her. She ignored him completely, simply pretending he wasn't there. She understood the need for his powers to protect the only place that accepted her, but he doubted he would ever find forgiveness in her eyes. At least Pietro had said she'd perked up somewhat upon the news that Arica was coming. Eric vaguely remembered Pietro saying that Arica and Wanda had been good friends back then, and that Arica had a soothing effect on his daughter. 

And while vastly useful for communications, observation, and similar missions, Pietro's powers just weren't useful in any kind of offensive attempts. Too easily tripped up by ice slides and telekinetics to be as invulnerable as he boasted. 

Well, they both could take care of themselves at least, despite his failures as a father. There was that. They would carry on his work when he was gone, for their own sakes. He had no illusions that it would be for him, in his memory. And that was fine too, it was the work that mattered. More than all the Pietros, Wandas, Todds, and Aricas of the world. 

In the end, they were all servants to the work. 


	10. Chapter Ten

            Arica cradled the steaming cup of hot chocolate in her hands, letting the warmth seep into her flesh, sipping at the soothing drink occasionally.  She glared at the clock with the best evil glare she could manage, convinced it was out to get her.  Her nerves had become stretched so thin that she was nearly believed the clock to actually be malevolent.   The young mutant forced herself to take a moment to simply calm down, just breathe.  Don't think about anything, don't look at anything, just exist.  Calmly exist. She couldn't walk in past the trained mutant detectors at the maximum security mutant prison in this mind state, they'd know something was up.p

            That would be disastrous.  She would be nothing more than a body on the floor in a sea of her own blood, and Todd executed in a day or two more.  But long enough to know she died doing something stupid, long enough to be pained at her loss.  She couldn't let that happen.   So she would be everything Xavier always told her she could, everything she had spent the last ten years training to be.  The best. p

            She'd woken early after very little sleep, unable to stay in the land of dreams for more than an hour at a time.  The sheer enormity of what she had set in motion had clamped down on her, fear she'd been shoving routinely to the side finally building to the point where she'd had to work through it or run screaming mad through the small town outside the school's walls.  Broken Arica.  The thought made her laugh and get out of bed, to start her last morning in this place.  

            It had been so strange to get into the altered room, most of the things she spent her mornings looking at gone.  Hidden away somewhere among Todd's things, probably already on their way to Genosha.  Where she would also be going after this afternoon.  p

            Going.  To Genosha.  Leaving not only her friends and home at the Institute, but her entire way of life.  The very country where she'd been born and grown up, even the continent.  She was turning her back on everything in her past other than Todd, and admitted quietly to herself that it was terrifying, not the grand adventure she'd been forcing herself to think of it as.   But the adventure-illusion helped her keep going, helped her convince herself it would all be all right later. 

            Strangely, the realization calmed her, as if the mere admittance of the fear satisfied it in some way and released her to concentrate on what she had to do.  Honed itself into a sharp blade in her mind that kept her focused, instead of trying to rip through delicate tissue.  No matter how scared she was, Todd had to be more frightened.  He would die tomorrow if she didn't stop this craziness.  p

            Todd would die.  He would never laugh with her again, never smile at her, never give her that quiet stare when he thought she wasn't looking again.  She'd never see him hopping around, or feel the shivers down her spine at the sound of his voice.  If he was somewhat less than conventionally attractive, his voice more than made up for it.  And she'd always liked his some-what froggish looks.  Rogue used to tease her that she'd never gotten over her childhood crush on Kermit the Frog.  p

            It had been enough to propel her forward, out of her old life.  She grabbed the last outfit she had besides her X-uniforms and jammed herself into it, tying her long blond hair up into a top knot to keep it out of her way in case she had to fight later.  She was half tempted to stick one of her uniforms on, but didn't think it would send the right message to the prison guards when she visited.  Nothing like showing up dressed to fight in a situation like this.  p

            Anyway, she was leaving this life behind.  She didn't want to take any of them, she'd either make or buy new ones in Genosha if she needed them ever again.  She'd run her hands over the smooth material one last time, leaving them hanging in an empty closet.  The closet had been the worst part to see like that, after so many years staring into it to find just the right thing to wear.   It seemed to her that the closet was everything in her life to this point, suddenly laid bare and empty.  Exposed, naked, betrayed.  She reached out and shut the small light off, and gently closed the door, then repeated the process with her bedroom door.  She would never look inside again.  The walk to the kitchen had been surreal, detached.  p

            How trivial childhood was, she reflected as she stared into the murky brown depths of her drink.  How utterly trivial and utterly priceless, the foundation of joy upon which the rest of our lives are built.  It had been in those days of little things and nonsense that she'd fallen in love, adulthood failing to change her feelings.  They'd told her she would outgrow childhood dreams and crushes.  Maybe there was something to this destiny crap.  On the other hand, it was probably her telepathy, she'd bonded, and that was that.  Either way, she'd failed to outgrow it all. p

            Finally the clock gave in, announcing it's defeat with a soft series of chimes.  Arica let it all go, dumping all the emotion out of her soul.  She didn't need it now, it was finally time to act.  She often thought of herself as two people, Arica was the person, and MindDancer was the warrior.

            It was MindDancer that walked through the front doors of the school for the last time. pbrbr

            Todd curled up on the little bunk on his cell, feeling all the pressure of his fate pressing down on him almost physically.  Tomorrow, he would come face to face with eternity, whatever that meant.  Vaguely he remembered proofreading a paper for Arica about what it must mean to die for a philosophy class she'd been roped into, but somehow he couldn't remember much to help right now.   She'd told him it was all stuff that she'd made up to try to get an A later anyway.  p

            All he'd wanted was to live quietly, be left alone in peace, and to find the courage to ask Arica to marry him.  To put an end to the endless emotion he felt for her one way or another, get on with his life.  If she didn't love him like that, at least he'd know and could get over it.  And if she did... p

            If she did, he could have had his idea of joy for the rest of his life.  He supposed it was a little odd to still be thinking in the does she doesn't she circles at this time in his life, but it had been the main focus of his thoughts for the last ten years, why not now?  p

            Arica had come to the school out of nowhere, another pretty young mutant in a string of them.  Blond and with a laugh that even then drove him crazy with want, he'd just looked on her as the new X-geek.  Another beautiful girl who'd love to remind him that he wasn't. p

            One day, he'd snapped at her in his mind when he'd caught her looking at him at lunch.  To his surprise, she'd slid right into his mind, inviting him to talk to her.  Her voice had been warm, friendly.  Something he hadn't had in a long time, and he'd found himself responding to her without thinking.  He'd told her the truth, about being abandoned when his parents found out he was a mutant, left alone on the streets of New York.  Of trying to survive, only to be found by Mystique and brought into a new kind of hell on empty promises of belonging.  About how his teammates treated him like some kind of pet at the best of times, and some kind of parasite at the worst. p

            Then she'd talked back, told him about her parents solution to her mutation had been to take her to a doctor who would destroy half her brain, and leave her body alive as a breeding ground for the bloodline.  About being so isolated by her powers that simple touch from others was a painfully overwhelming mind transfer, and that she was lonely and not perfect either.  p

            It had changed them both, made them friends.  Made him love her.  For the endless acceptance of him, no matter what.  She'd stood up for him against the school bullies, daring them to take her on with a wicked look in her dark eyes.  They'd backed off, confused and scared by this girl defending 'Toady' Tolensky.  She'd helped him catch up in his work and start getting good grades, explaining that by ignoring it all he was letting the people who didn't like him win.  Letting them keep him stupid, keep him down.  She'd tutored Freddy too, he remembered.  With patience and caring, despite the differences in their allegiances and social circles.  p

            She'd even convinced him to start bathing again, he remembered with amusement. Pointed out that not doing it really wasn't protecting him from the bullies much, and that he might make some friends if he made the effort.  She'd been right, after that Rogue and Kurt of all people had started hanging out with them sometimes.  They'd even talked to him when Arica wasn't there.  Then Kitty and Jean joined in, although Jean and he had never really been much more than the hello, how are you, gotta go type of friends.   Not much in common.  p

            Before he knew it, while he still wasn't the toast of Bayville, he had a few solid friends, good grades, and a real potential future.  And while Arica never indicated she would welcome any advances, she never went out with anyone else, and spent most of her free time with him.  p

            In return, he'd always been there to listen to hear dreams, her thoughts, and her fears.  He'd been really careful around her, only touching in small doses at first, and slowly working his way up to longer physical contacts, bringing her a little way out of the isolation of her mutation.   She'd spent hours just cuddled against him, he was never quite sure if she'd been thinking quietly or dozing, but it had been enough for both of them.  p

            They'd gone to prom together, and he'd nearly had the courage to tell her what he really meant, really felt.  Surrounded by people who hated him, he lost the nerve and kept it light and fun.  They'd stayed friends for a while after graduation, while she started college and he started learning the landscaping business.   Then things went downhill fast for mutants after a few went nuts and started killing people randomly.  Fear will destroy something every time. p

            The hardest thing he'd ever done in his life was leaving her without saying goodbye when the world changed thanks to Magneto's introduction of mutants in the worst way possible, followed by the infamous Mutant Murders.   Maybe if it had been just one or the other…but both together had convinced people mutants were not only dangerous, but savage.  p

            He hadn't been able to bring himself to let her risk her very life by keeping company with him.  He'd always known this would happen sooner or later, he wasn't one of the media's mutant darlings, and never would be.  Unlike Arica, Jean, Scott, and Kitty, he wasn't beautiful and always willing to serve.  He'd just wanted to live quietly, with Arica, in his house.   The dream was worth dying for, at least.  p

            He could have gone to Genosha, but that would have meant not only leaving Arica far beyond, but possibly facing off against her again on the battlefield.  He'd done that once, and it was enough.  They'd lost that day so many years ago, because Todd hadn't been able to bring himself to hurt her, even a little.  She hadn't attacked him either, they'd just stood there looking at each other.  It was then he'd quit the Brotherhood, found a job, and gone off on his own.  He'd found he liked it so much better than always fighting. p

            He loved growing things, nurturing plants and creating beauty.  With them or with his paints, didn't matter.   He would never be a beautiful man that people fell all over, he was still the slender awkwardly built boy he'd been.  But he could make some beauty in the world, and that had been a wonderful thing.  Even better the day he found Arica taking pictures of one of his landscaping displays in a park, telling Rogue it was just gorgeous, and she had wondered who'd made it.  He'd hid in the shadows, just watching her, smiling. p

            He wished he could see her one more time, to say 'I love you' just once.  She deserved it, but more importantly, he deserved to have her know.  

            "Tolensky, up," the rough-voiced guard ordered abruptly.  "You are being called up to the visitor's room, let's go." p

            Todd obeyed meekly, wondering what Mr. Parma needed.  There wasn't anyone else who would be here, after all.  Mr. Parma gave him hope for the world and the mutants left in it that he considered his friends. A normal human who had fought so hard for him, maybe Professor Xavier had been right after all, and the world just needed some time.  He hoped so, for the other mutants that would come. p

            The endless gray walls slid by until he reached the brown door leading into the sectioned visitation room, one side for prisoners, the other for visitors, and you talked on little phones.  He turned to enter and was roughly yanked back. p

            "Not here, the one-on-one rooms," the guard snapped, shoving him towards one of the black doors where there was no separation between prisoner and visitor.  Confused, he obeyed and entered the room, looking for the older man. p

            There was no man, only a flash of movement and a soft body pressing against his, blond hair obscuring his vision, and arms holding him tightly against that body.  His shocked brain took a moment to process it all before his arms slid up and around her slender body.  "Arica?  What are you doing here?" p

            She pulled back just enough to get her face out of his chest and look up into his eyes, her own wide and strange.  The look there reminded him uneasily of the sentencing hearing, when he'd been unable to read what she was thinking. There were very few Arica moods that he didn't understand, and they made him uneasy.  p

            Her mouth was soft when it met his without warning, warm and sweet.  He didn't bother to question it, he just pulled her closer and kissed her back for all he was worth.  If he was going to die, he was going to have as much Heaven here as he could before he left.


End file.
